7 Tips on How to Write a Book

This article was first published here several years back, but we felt it could find new life to some readers who missed it the first trip around!

1. Write your book. Whether it’s non-fiction or fiction, Fantasy, Autobiography, Crime or Mystery, just write what you feel. Never worry about editing as you go; as that will bury your creativity.

2. Find a quiet place to write. An extra bedroom, office, or even a garage (preferably heated), are all good places “away from it all.” Never look for your muse where friends or family are always interrupting you.

3. Set time aside to write. It takes time to find your inspiration to write. It’s not likely you will write well or accomplish much in a ten minute session. Allow yourself at least two hours to work on your writing project.

4. Choose you books topic according to demand. Are there a million books already written which follow the path of your story or subject? Is there even an audience out there who will buy your book? With nearly 30 books being released in the U.S. every hour of every day, the competition is fierce. If you plan to sell your book to the reading public, make sure you will have a customer base before you put your time and money into publishing a book.

5. Draw an outline for your book before you begin. A well drawn out outline will keep you focused on your total project. Outline your story or information. For fiction book writing, an outline of your plot, when to introduce your characters, and path of the story, that is, the beginning, middle, and ending placed into chronological order. For non-fiction book writing, the same applies. Organize your information into a logical and useful order.

6. Choose your title carefully. Not only is a catchy title a must, but for non-fiction and some fiction books, your title words will most likely be used as “key words” when a potential book buyer searches the Internet for a book similar to yours.

7. Once your book is complete, find a professional editor to fix your mistakes. Spell Check in your writing software is not enough to handle the job.

Carol Denbow is the author of five books, including A Book Inside, How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Story, available at Amazon.com. She is also a regular contributor to numerous writers’ websites and newsletters and has been a featured guest on radio and television.

Please visit Carol’s Websites at Author’s Box at http://www.authorsbox.com and Books By Denbow at http://www.booksbydenbow.weebly.com.

What is a Fair Royalty Percentage?

When a new author sees the seemingly low royalty they might receive from their publisher, it is often shocking to them to say the least. Why are these numbers so low? In this post, I’ll attempt to break it down for you and make sense of it all.

Five percent, seven percent, ten percent; not much money when you add it up. But consider the following expenses that go into simple production of the book alone.

Editing; even if the book submitted has been previously edited, it must still be reviewed.

Layout; another very time-consuming process which also requires significant hours of labor.

Cover design; again, a special talent and time invested.

ISBN’s and other costly insertions and necessities to publish for distribution.

Printing; a publisher rarely prints their books; they are sent to an outside source. Cost? 30 or more percent of the cover price (which is based on page count, size, cover, etc.).

Promoting your book can be costly as well. So when you add it all up, the publisher has a significant investment in your book. Considering the average author sells only 120 copies, the publisher is taking a huge gamble on you.

Publishers are becoming more and more like brick and mortar book stores; they’re closing down faster than ever before. There is just too much competition out there and they are overwhelmed.

When a writer makes a decision to self-publish, they are taking on the same risk a traditional publisher does. They will make the timely and financial investment in their book and gamble that it will sell. Yes, they will make more profit on the book, but will first need to recoup their investment; something more than 90 percent never succeed in doing.

When I self-published my first book, Are You Ready to be Your Own Boss? in 2006, I did it all myself from start to finish. I thought, “Who wouldn’t want to read this book?” So I printed 2,000 copies. Well truth is, many people did want the book, and still do. But what is “many?” Unfortunately, it wasn’t 2,000. So now I still have about 700 books sitting in my closet. The good news is, I’ve finally broke even. My initial investment was well over $5,000.00. I’ve learned a lot since then and that mistake has never re-occurred.

Remember that five, seven, or ten percent royalty? Maybe it doesn’t sound too bad after all. If it’s pure profit, whether you sell 120 copies or ten thousand copies, you won’t show a loss, and there is a lot to be gained by that.

For “author assisted” free book publishing, visit Plain & Simple Books at http://www.plainandsimplebooks.com.

7 Tips on How to Write a Book

Here are 7 great tips to get you on the road to finishing your book! Please feel free to add your own tips or comments.

1. Write your book. Whether it’s non-fiction or fiction, Fantasy, Autobiography, Crime or Mystery, just write what you feel. Never worry about editing as you go; as that will bury your creativity.

2. Find a quiet place to write. An extra bedroom, office, or even a garage (preferably heated), are all good places “away from it all.” Never look for your muse where friends or family are always interrupting you.

3. Set time aside to write. It takes time to find your inspiration to write. It’s not likely you will write well or accomplish much in a ten minute session. Allow yourself at least two hours to work on your writing project.

4. Choose you books topic according to demand. Are there a million books already written which follow the path of your story or subject? Is there even an audience out there who will buy your book? With nearly 30 books being released in the U.S. every hour of every day, the competition is fierce. If you plan to sell your book to the reading public, make sure you will have a customer base before you put your time and money into publishing a book.

5. Draw an outline for your book before you begin. A well drawn out outline will keep you focused on your total project. Outline your story or information. For fiction book writing, an outline of your plot, when to introduce your characters, and path of the story, that is, the beginning, middle, and ending placed into chronological order. For non-fiction book writing, the same applies. Organize your information into a logical and useful order.

6. Choose your title carefully. Not only is a catchy title a must, but for non-fiction and some fiction books, your title words will most likely be used as “key words” when a potential book buyer searches the Internet for a book similar to yours.

7. Once your book is complete, find a professional editor to fix your mistakes. Spell Check in your writing software is not enough to handle the job.

Carol Denbow is the author of five books, including A Book Inside, How to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Story, available at Amazon.com. She is also a regular contributor to numerous writers’ websites and newsletters and has been a featured guest on radio and television.

Please visit Carol’s Websites at Author’s Box at http://www.authorsbox.com and Books By Denbow at http://www.booksbydenbow.weebly.com.